I'm willing to bet that a lot of the grand prix riders out there are like Elias: put him on the right machinery and he can win races. The problem with most racing these days is that there's just not enough money to go around, and something has to be done about this, no matter what you think of the rules.

@Bradenws the powers that be thought that having a control engine and ECU would solve this problem and level the playing field, but there's a lot more to bike than the power plant. An awful lot more.

Consider the development of Moto2 bikes over the three seasons they've been in use. Elias won on a Moriwaki in 2010 and there and there was another one in the top five to prove that it wasn't a fluke. Only one Moriwaki in the top 10 in 2011. After only a few races this year the riders who started on Moriwakis had dumped them as uncompetitive.

Unfortunately developing racing machines costs money, those with the money will develop their bikes. Those without the money will stagnate and be beaten.

And it's not even necessarily just about budget. There's the matter of having the know how to develop the bike.

Unfortunately this is the nature of the beast and there is nothing you can do to change it. I suspect that the more the rule makers do to try to limit it the worse it will get.

And things change quickly. Look at MotoGP in 2007 a Ducati won by a country mile from a Honda and Yamaha almost tied for second.

In 2008 a Yamaha won by a country mile from a Ducati with a Honda some way behind in third.

In 2009 the Yamaha dominated. First by a comfortable margin from another Yamaha, with a Honda trailing in third and a Ducati down in fourth. And with the exception of a single rider on a Yamaha it was the same three riders on Honda, Yamaha and Ducati.

I don't suppose the skills of those three riders changed by too much in those three seasons, so you've got to put a lot of it down to the machinery. Ducati from dominance to a fairly distant fourth in three seasons. And it's not unique to Ducati. Consider Suzuki back in the early eighties. Champions in 81. Champions by a distance in 82. Third in 83. Sixth in 84.

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